| Marquessate of Castelnuovo | |
| Creation Date: | 1660 |
| Peerage: | Spanish nobility |
| First Holder: | Ferdinand van den Eynde, 1st Marquess of Castelnuovo |
| Last Holder: | Lorenzo Filippo Colonna |
| Status: | Extinct |
| Extinction Date: | 1948 |
Marquess of Castelnuovo (Italian: Marchese di Castelnuovo, Spanish: Marqués de Castelnuovo) was a title in the Neapolitan nobility, at the time part of the Spanish peerage, that was created in the late 17th century for Ferdinand van den Eynde, 1st Marquess of Castelnuovo. The marquessate was purchased by the Flemish magnate Jan van den Eynde, at the time one of the wealthiest men in the city of Naples, for his son Ferdinand. Ferdinand married Olimpia Piccolomini, of the House of Piccolomini, by whom he had three daughters.[1] Thanks to the marriage of his heir apparent Giovanna to Giuliano Colonna, the title was inherited by Giovanna's son, Ferdinando Colonna.[2] The title was held for nine generations by the Colonna, before losing statutory regulation and lawful recognition (together with all other Italian peerage titles) upon the establishment of the Italian Republic,[3] wherein aristocratic titles are neither recognized nor protected, peerage titles having "no value whatsoever" outside that of any other sobriquet.[4]
It was created in the late 17th century for the wealthy Flemish merchant Ferdinand van den Eynde.[5] [6] His father Jan van den Eynde, a Fleming from Antwerp who had become one of the wealthiest men in Naples through trading and banking,[5] purchased the title for him.[6] [5] A few years earlier, Jan van den Eynde had purchased the Palazzo Zevallos,[7] [8] which he renovated and filled with a huge art collection, which was one of the largest in Naples and its surroundings at the time.[9] Although most of the paintings in the original Van den Eynde collection are now dispersed throughout the world (they being housed at other major museums), the reduced gallery of Palazzo Zevallos remains to this day one of the most popular in the city of Naples.[8] Ferdinand van den Eynde married Olimpia Piccolomini, of the House of Piccolomini, by whom he had three daughters.[10] He inherited the Palazzo Zevallos upon his father's death, and built the monumental Palazzo Vandeneynden (today Villa Carafa) in Vomero.[11] [12] The Villa Carafa passed to his daughter Elisabeth, while the Palazzo Zevallos, the bulk of Ferdinand's art collection, and his marquessate were inherited by his daughter Giovanna, who married Giuliano Colonna, of the House of Colonna.[13] [10] Giovanna and Giuliano had seven children together, with the title passing down to Ferdinando.[13]